While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 7, 2026

A masked protester throwing an object, amid clashes with French police in Paris on Oct 6.

Mass protests over decrepit conditions at France’s high schools descended into sporadic violence on Oct 6, leading to nearly 500 arrests and prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call an emergency meeting.

The protests started in late September with students blocking entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds over complaints of dilapidated facilities and teacher shortages.

US President Donald Trump weighed in on Oct 6 to blame the unrest in France on “mass migration” and Islam, as he pushed his global right-wing narrative ahead of tough midterm elections at home.

In France, parents, teachers and union workers joined the high school students’ movement in the capital Paris and other cities. The interior ministry said 256,000 people protested nationwide, while union organisers put the figure at 450,000.

The White House pushed back on Oct 6 after Democrats accused President Donald Trump of suggesting Iran should “take out” the major US cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Viral footage showed comments by Trump at a midterm elections rally in Nebraska on Oct 5, where he said high oil prices from the Iran war were justified by the need to stop Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

“It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said. “They can take out a city. Let them take, let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon.”

UK online fashion giant Asos said on Oct 6 it was investigating “unauthorised activity involving third-party platforms” after its customers received a phone alert saying the retailer had been hacked.

Asos, which has 17 million active customers worldwide, said personal information like names and contact details “may have been accessed” but that it did not believe payment card information or account passwords were impacted.

The company noted its website and app were operating normally following the incident, which prompted its share price to slump initially by almost 15% in London.

A British adventurer on a 50,000km, 28-year trek home from South America without using any transport has set foot on UK soil after swimming the Channel, his publicists said on Oct 6.

Karl Bushby, a 57-year-old former paratrooper, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998, vowing to reach his mother’s home near Hull in northern England without travelling on planes, trains, boats, vehicles or other transport modes.

Nearly three decades and 29 countries later, Bushby stepped ashore in south-east England on the afternoon of Oct 5, after securing permission from UK and French authorities to swim across the busy Channel waterway from France.

World champions Spain recovered to beat Croatia 2-1 on Oct 6, with Mikel Merino scoring twice to extend their unbeaten run to 42 matches and seal a place in the Nations League quarter-finals on the final night of the fourth round of group-stage action.

England eased to a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the other League A3 match, with captain Harry Kane scoring twice and setting up the third on the night he equalled Peter Shilton’s national appearance record with his 125th cap.

Spain top the group with 12 points, while England, who all but clinched a quarter-final spot, have nine, and Croatia are on three. The Czechs are still without a point.